Friday, January 27, 2012

Excuse Me, Prime Minister, Your Greenwash is Fading

David Nussbaum, the chief executive of WWF UK, has expressed mild disappointment that the greenest government ever may not be altogether living up to its claims. In 2006, David Nussbaum's charity helped to arrange a photoshoot whereby Daveybloke was driven to the airport, flew to Norway, hugged a husky, flew back to Britain and was driven away from the airport, thereby symbolising the Conservatives' commitment to a low-carbon economy. It is possible that this was the same Daveybloke who repeatedly used his dead child as an alibi for all those promises about helping the vulnerable and protecting the NHS; in any case, Nussbaum displayed approximately the degree of rational scepticism one would expect from a former accountant with a qualification in RE: "The long-term future of the Conservative party David Cameron is trying to lead is the party which continues to embrace people for whom environmental sustainability, care for the natural world, thinking about what we are leaving our future generations, those are deeply held values."

Nussbaum was tactful enough not to mention the Government's recent decision to spend what it has saved by depriving people of legal aid in a fight to cut subsidies for the solar industry. Nevertheless, the Government has made noises about a green investment bank but has ensured it will have no borrowing powers until the next election; the Government has made noises about improving the energy efficiency of homes, but has gone all coy when asked how the improvements will be paid for. It is becoming clear even to Nussbaum that something has unaccountably gone awry. I wonder what it might be?